1 Thessalonians 4:17

Then we who are alive, who are left, ¹  will be suddenly caught up ²  together ³  with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 2:11,16; Ps 16:11; Ps 17:15; Ps 49:15; Ps 73:24; Isa 35:10; Isa 60:19,20; Mt 26:64; Mr 14:62; Joh 12:26; Joh 14:3; Joh 17:24; Ac 1:9; Ac 8:39; 1Co 15:52; 2Co 5:8; 2Co 12:2-4; Php 1:23; 1Th 4:15; 2Pe 3:13; Re 1:7; Re 7:14-17; Re 11:12; Re 12:5; Re 21:3-7,22,23; Re 22:3-5

¹ tc The words οἱ περιλειπόμενοι (Joi perileipomenoi, “[the ones] who are left”) are lacking in F G {0226^vid} ar b as well as a few fathers, but the rest of the textual tradition has the words. Most likely, the Western mss omitted the words because of perceived redundancy with οἱ ζῶντες (Joi zwnte", “[the ones] who are alive”).

² tn Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear.

³ tn Or “simultaneously,” but this meaning does not fit as well in the parallel in 5:10.